OotP: Link to Voldemort?

[Rach]

No: HPFGUIDX 62462

SPOILER (Obviously) and loads of speculation ... 




Having re-read a few segments of OotP last night I am starting to 
suspect there is a strong connection between Bellatrix Lestrangeand 
Voldemort (other than the obvious death eater connection) - not a 
SHIP, just a connection that may even turn out to be Voldemort's 
Achilles heel. 

At the end of Cos Dumbledore tells Harry about Tom Riddle - and I 
remember a quote something along the lines of 'He disappeared and 
sunk so deeply into the dark arts when he resurfaced as Lord 
Voldemort he was unrecognisable' (paraphrased). 

Now we know Tom Riddle was a brilliant student, but we also know that 
he had no family, and lived in a muggle orphanage outside of 
Hogwarts. Where did he learn it all? I don't believe you learn to be 
the most powerful dark wizard of all time from the Restricted Section 
in Hogwarts. His ancestry, as Heir of Slytherin, may have supplied 
talent and the inclination, but not the actual knowledge. He would 
have needed links to a dark wizard family ... a black wizard family, 
in other words the Noble House of Black. 

Harry describes 12 Grimmauld Place as a house that looks like it 
belongs to the worst dark wizards, and 30 seconds with Sirius' 
mother, Kreacher or even Phineas confirms this!

The fact that every Black who turned out half decent has been burnt 
off the tapestry (Arthur Weasley, Sirius, Tonks etc) indicates that 
they have been dark wizards as far back as anyone can remember. Who 
better to teach a brilliant, but poor and unconnected half blood the 
tricks of the trade?

This is where I come to Bellatrix. She is a member of the house of 
Black, is Sirius' cousin and Narcissa Malfoy's sister. It is 
difficult to work out whether she is older or younger, but I think we 
can assume that she is probably similar in age, perhaps even slightly 
younger than Sirius, as she is described in the trial seen through 
Dumbledore's Pensieve in GoF as being very young.  (A side note: as 
Malfoy Snr was not at school with the marauders, we can assume that 
he and Narcissa are probably older, closer in age to the Weasleys). 

In the final confrontation scene in the Atrium of the Ministry of 
Magic, Bellatrix screams proudly that she is Voldemort's most loyal 
servant, and that the Dark Lord taught her the dark arts personally. 
She is proud of this fact, her complete adoration is perfectly 
obvious. Now, coming from a family like the Blacks, surely she would 
have learnt the dark arts from her own parents (who had not been 
burnt off the tapestry), or her aunt (Sirius' mother). But no, she is 
proud of the fact she was taught by Voldemort – indicating that she 
must have been exposed to him from a very young age. 

Now where did Tom Riddle disappear to after he left Hogwarts, before 
he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort?  12 Grimmauld Place?  Sirius 
admitted that the house was highly protected, and that his father was 
obsessive about security. Who was he anxious to protect I wonder? 
What secret was he keeping? Voldemort. 

This ties in nicely with Sirius running away from home to live with 
the Potters. Sirius has always hated dark wizards (he is a Gryffindor 
afterall!)  but what was the `straw that broke the camel's back'? 
Perhaps Voldemort (having starting his reign of terror) was given 
protection by the Black family, and sharing a house with the most 
powerful dark wizard of all time was too much for Sirius. 

Now what does all this mean for the next two books? Well I have no 
idea, but I have some suspicions that Bellatrix will be a very 
important character in the coming book at least. In the Pensieve 
scene in GoF while the three other death eaters are either resigned 
to their fate or begging for mercy (i.e. Crouch Jnr) but Bellatrix is 
proud, and defends her master with a  fanatical fervour to the end. 
This adoration can only come from a childhood obsession or love. I 
don't believe Voldemort capable of love (Tom Riddle may have been, we 
do not know) so I am tending to rule out this possibility, but there 
is no doubt at all that Bellatrix idolises and worships Voldemort in 
a very complete and obsessive way (more so than your average death 
eater – most of which at least tried to avoid justice – ie Narcissa 
and Lucius Malfoy). Her terrified reaction to her own failure and his 
impending wrath when he appeared in the Atrium reinforces this. 

This is all speculation of course, but it makes sense. I do hope that 
Bellatrix is revealed as  Voldemort's Achilles heel, as we saw Sirius 
become Harry's (and of course vice versa). 

--------
rachel